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We had ours already, these are my take aways:

1. No outside lessons or Travel ball while HS is in season, we want one voice in your kids head, not an overpaid instructor telling him we are teaching him wrong and not to listen to us.

2.  This is not pay to play, I don't have to play your son, he has to earn it.

3. Don't bring anything to the dugout that you don't want split 20 ways. I will provide water and they will be fed before every game.

4. JV is the training ground for future varsity, I will send down Varsity guys now and then to knock the rust off if they aren't getting playing time on Varsity.

5. Here are the pitch count rules for Georgia, I don't like them, here are my lower pitch count rules.

6. Here are the school breaks, here are our games and practices during these breaks, don't make plans to leave that week.

7. This is what I expect the players to wear, that I have provided.  Here is a link to the baseball store if you want to get another set.

8. We need sponsors, here are the forms, here is our VP to give examples of how best to use these forms. Also to talk about the other volunteer committees and your concession stand obligation and fees for the season.

9. Here are all our coaches, here is their background.

10. If your kid has a problem with his playing time he needs to talk to me.  We will discuss it, I will not discus his playing time with you the parent.  If my discussion with the player doesn't satisfy you we will hold a meeting with the player, the parent, every coach that is available that day, and the athletic director.

11. While it is sometimes obvious to us, IF your child has an injury that they are not telling us about please send me an email, or text, or call.  You will find my number in the packet here.  We don't play hurt players, here is our athletic trainer that we share with the lacrosse and soccer team to explain about that. (insert list of doctors that will see a player within 24 hours)

12. Here is our practice days and times.

13. Here are our game schedules, we have buses on these days, we don't on these days.  Yu can see the JV season ends on 4/1, I will be pulling up some of the JV players to finish the Varsity season out until mid May.

14. If it rains we will have JV have a study hall from 3:30-5, while Varsity hits, since most of them drive to school.  JV will then hit at 5. We don't cancel due to rain.

15.  I'll be spending a lot of time with your son.  I will treat him like my own, and that means getting onto him when he's being a knucklehead.  If he says I yelled at him he's probably telling the truth, but I also love them like my own, so remember that.

ironhorse posted:

I know how to run them, believe me, but what information do you want as a parent? That's a standard parent meeting there, which is more than acceptable. I've never been a parent of a HS athlete, so I'm wondering what parents want to hear. That's all.

All that stuff was helpful to know, if I still remember it 3 weeks later.

The preseason parent-coach meetings we went to were similar. 

One additional item the coach had was the concussion protocol which all parents had to read and sign.  This was mandatory for all sports.

The coach also indicated his door was always open, but if you (the parent) have an issue to discuss he requested you make an appointment.  He would not meet and discuss immediately after a game or practice - too many things he had to oversee.

The point he emphasized the most is he would NOT discuss playing time with parents.  Until the school tells him otherwise, it is HIS team to run and that includes setting the starting lineup.  He makes that decision based on what HE sees in practice and as the season progresses, performance in games.

I know this may be sore subject with some, but my son's HS coach requested that parents NOT attend practice.   He felt it would be a distraction and not that he had anything to hide.  If a parent really felt the need to attend a practice, meet with him and he would set up a day for you to attend, but it would not be a license to attend all practices.  To my knowledge, no one ever made a request to attend a practice.

ironhorse posted:

I know how to run them, believe me, but what information do you want as a parent? That's a standard parent meeting there, which is more than acceptable. I've never been a parent of a HS athlete, so I'm wondering what parents want to hear. That's all.

Something that our coaches tell the parents, which I think is useful, is their approach of younger vs older guys. They say if two guys are equal in the coaches' eyes, the coaches will play the younger guy. The older guy has to be better than, not equal to, the younger guy, in order to win the competition. I think it is good for parents to hear that. And they also tell the parents that their decisions are aimed towards the success of "Program - Team - Player, in that order" which again is something that is useful for the parents to hear.

As to what a parent wants to hear, it would go something like this: "The coaches have decided that your son is the starting shortstop and will bat third every game." 

for freshman,  uniform do we need to get certain socks or pants or is school providing.    practice times,   dont expect to go on spring break but what is the schedule that week.   Actually looked at schedule we are playing games during spring break  maybe just point that out.  whatever team rules.      

potentially on the side with pitchers,  but what is weekly routine,   do they need to long toss,  throw bullpens midweek or are you handling the staff and having them follow your protocol.     

the rest i expect coach speak.  

Last edited by gunner34

I think most parents want to know...

Who is my kid spending three hours a day with?  What are their qualifications?  What are their rules and guidelines?  What will they be teaching my son, baseball and otherwise?

What is my son responsible for?

What am I responsible for?  How much will it cost?

What volunteering are you going to hit me up for?

What is the schedule?  What do we do about things that come up that conflict?

If questions come up, what is proper protocol?

(for some...) My kid takes lessons/goes to trainer... should we continue during season?

(for some...) My kid has aspirations to play in college.  What is your role in this pursuit?

What names are we aloud to call the umpires? 

Last edited by cabbagedad

Our high school baseball program was a losing, country club environment for twenty years before the regime change. I’ll never forget this comment from the new coach ...

I'm aware in the past players missed games and practices while going away during Easter vacation. You may still go on vacation if you wish. Remember to turn in your uniform before leaving. 

Without blinking he moved on to the next bullet in his notes. 

RJM posted:

Our high school baseball program was a losing, country club environment for twenty years before the regime change. I’ll never forget this comment from the new coach ...

I'm aware in the past players missed games and practices while going away during Easter vacation. You may still go on vacation if you wish. Remember to turn in your uniform before leaving. 

Without blinking he moved on to the next bullet in his notes. 

Love it!

As a freshman parent, I would want to know if you permit/forbid outside lessons and strength/agility/speed training. I also want you to be very specific about every topic you cover. Remember there are brand new parents each year that have no understanding at all about the program. I want to know the exact cost for my son this year (or a very close estimate), and what fundraising we are required to do. Tell me if there are mandatory time commitments for parents for fundraising or any other activities. Expectations about fan behavior (if you have specific expectations).  And please put the important stuff on a handout because us newbies will be excited and overwhelmed and never remember everything you tell us. 

As a general related comment, I want the coach to run an organized baseball program and the parent meeting sets the tone. So make sure your speech is well prepared (which you appear to be doing by seeking input here). Most coaches can't run an organized program if they don't designate some non-coaching duties (such as having a team coordinator/team parent to handle all the non-coaching administrative stuff). Maybe it's just me, but I think it speaks volumes about the potential success of a program when a HS coach is constantly begging for concession stand volunteers on social media. 

Cover all the basics as you mentioned you already do.

In addition to that, specify what YOUR rules are outside of the lines.  For example, the county has a rule that if a student is failing two classes, they cannot attend any team functions (practice/games).  The coach's rule is that if a player is failing ONE class, they're off until they bring it up.  Since his rule is more restrictive than the county mandate, it's important to know.

Likewise about partying.  Coach outlines the county policy, then makes it clear that if he sees a picture on a player on social media at a function with a red solo cup, he'll assume it's alcohol and the kid will be kicked off the team (not suspended, off the team for remainder of season).

So if your rules are lockstep with the school/county, let them know.  If they're more restrictive, let them know.

Obviously, spell out your expectations for parents, i.e., coaching them during games, how they carry themselves, etc., and what to expect if they can't comply.

Tug Tide posted:

Are JV players required to stay for varsity games ?

The HS my son will attend next yr as freshman, the coach keeps the JV guys around for home games (field work, shagging fouls) and cuts them loose on road days.

Yes, this! Freshmen played before JV and they were expected to stay and support JV team. We didn't know that until first game and had to make last minute transportation arrangements. Tell us when you want him there: xx minutes/hours before home games (and any road game transportation arrangements/rules). Also tell us if he is required to stay after game ends to do any tasks.

Also what NUKE83 said about grade and behavior expectations. These freshman kids are getting exposed to juniors and seniors and may be exposed to older kid temptations. Peer pressure is harder to resist when it's your older teammates you respect. This sounds so obvious that many coaches don't say it, but make sure you mention your prohibition on drug use to your players as well. We had this problem last year and the coach was either clueless or purposely turned a blind eye.

And a friendly suggestion: find a local cleaners who will give you a deal to clean your uniforms with pick up/drop off service to the field. Most parents will GLADLY pay! Our cleaning fee is $150 per kid, and worth every penny. Kids left dirty uniforms after games and picked them up when they showed up for next game. No scrubbing for us, and both us don't have to worry about kids showing up in the wrong uniform/belt etc. Fabulous!

For the freshman parent with a kid on Varsity, some things I didn't expect  had to do with his age difference than most of the team.  (i.e. No driver's license yet, so knowing how long practice is and rain out information was critical to transportation issues).  There was also an out of state trip that he flew with the team and since he didn't have a license or permit yet, I had to get him an ID card so he could fly on the plane without his parents (his passport was expired and the trip was 3 weeks after he made the team.)  Even though you can't anticipate every unique situation, I wish the coach would've pulled us aside for a few minutes after the meeting to answer unique questions pertaining to our situation...we didn't even know to ask these until they actually came up.

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